Trump May be Speeding Up Evangelical Break with GOP
- Updated Oct 07, 2016
In an election year that has been far from usual, many are speculating that Republican candidate Donald Trump is accelerating the split between evangelicals and the rest of the GOP constituency.
Denny Burk writes in a blog post that “The apparent break-up with the GOP is but one sign of a larger conflict that evangelical Christians are facing in post-Christian America. As we move from “moral majority” to prophetic minority, we are feeling more uneasy in Babylon. That is not altogether a bad thing. Christianity’s contrast with the world is becoming more evident and will compel us to theological clarity. And that is happening now.”
Burk also adds a 10-minute Yahoo News video to his post. In the video, a number of evangelicals share their dilemma this election cycle. Many say they don’t want to vote for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, but many also express serious doubts about Trump.
The video discusses how, in the 1970’s and ‘80’s, leaders such as Jerry Falwell Sr., Chuck Colson, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson led the Moral Majority, but now politics have shifted and even Falwell’s son, Jerry Falwell Jr., is an avid Trump supporter.
But many Christians are not on board with the kind of brand of conservatism Trump represents.
Some, like Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, is fiercely against Trump, and believes this election may make it necessary for Christians to further separate their faith from their politics.
“Christianity does not belong to conservative politics and to the right,” states pastor and former NFL player Léonce Crump in the video. “There is no party that’s going to capture the true essence of biblical Christianity.”
Publication date: October 7, 2016
